Vodafone Idea narrowed its consolidated net loss to Rs 7,132.3 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, bettering a market consensus estimate of Rs 7,293.5 crore.
In the same quarter a year ago, the troubled telecom company — whose fortunes have been buoyed by a four-year moratorium on the payment of legacy dues — had posted a net loss of Rs 7,218.2 crore.
The company had posted a loss of Rs 7,319 crore in the preceding quarter.
The loss narrowed as a result of a decline in total expenses which fell to Rs 16,577.6 crore against Rs 17,367.6 crore in the year-ago quarter.
Revenues, however, shrank to Rs 9,406.4 crore in the July-September period against Rs 10,791.2 crore in the comparable quarter.
VIL said its cost optimisation steps had resulted in 80 per cent savings in the second quarter during which the company raised tariffs which helped boost its average revenue per user (ARPU) to Rs 109, up 5.3 per cent from Rs 104 in the first quarter.
The company had raised the entry-level pre-paid pricing plan from Rs 49 to Rs 79 in a phased manner and also increased tariffs for some post-paid plans.
“During the last quarter, we witnessed a recovery in our operating momentum as the economy has started to gradually open up aided by the ongoing rapid vaccination drive.
“We continue to improve our 4G subscriber base on the back of superior data and voice experience on Vi GIGAnet, India’s fastest mobile network. We continue to focus on executing our strategy to improve our competitive position and win in the marketplace,” said VIL MD & CEO Ravinder Takkar.
Analysts believe that the four-year moratorium on dues will lead to a cumulative savings of around Rs 1 lakh crore. The company has the option of converting the interest on dues into equity that will be farmed out to a government-nominated agency. VIL said it would convey its decision before the middle of January next year when the stipulated 90-day period ends.
During the quarter, its subscriber base declined to 253 million from 255.4 million in the first quarter, down 2.4 million. It added that the 4G subscriber base saw healthy addition of 3.3 million and the overall 4G base now stands at 116.2 million. Subscriber churn improved to 2.9 per cent in the second quarter against 3.5 per cent in the April-June quarter.
Shares of VIL on Friday closed with gains of 4.66 per cent at Rs 10.34 on the BSE. The stock rose on speculation that the company was in talks with State Bank of India for fresh loans.
